Treating cork for bottle-seals.



l W. W. MASON. TRATINGv CORK FOR ABTTLE SEALS.

APPLIOATION F'ILED 001.2, 1912.

'Patented Apr.15,1913.

WESLEY W...1VIASON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

TREATING CORK FOR BOTTLE-SEALS.

' speciation of Letters Patent.

Patented A131215, 1913.

Application led- October 2, 1.912. Serial No. 723,489.`

To all 'wwyn-z't may concern:

Be it known thatv I, WESLEY WV. MASON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Treating Cork for Bottle-Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates 4to improvements in the art of'treating and preparing thin cork disks such as are used in metal bottleclosing caps to effect a t-ight seal when the cap is 0n`the mouth of a bottle. Y.

The cork disks referred to have pores that contain resinous vegetable matter that is` a tube, 4, rises vertically from the center of the bottom the 'lower end of thetu'be openinqr therethrough, and the upper end ofthe tu e also being open. The top of the boiler is open or uncovered. A revoluble shaft, 5,

stands vertically, its lower end rests in a` bearing, 6; this shaft is round and extends upward through the open tube, 4, and passes snugly through a ring-bearing, 7, that f its in the tube; this ring bearing gives a steady revolution to the shaft. above the upper end of the tube, the shaft has4 a xed collar, 8, and the upper end of the shaft above said collar instead of being round'is square, as at, 9. Below the boiler the shaft has a'pulley, 10, over which a driving' belt may beplaced to impart revoluble motion to'the'shaft.v Within the boiler and at or near the bottom, 2, is a coiled pipe, 11; -two outer pipes, 12, and, `13, enter through the bottom and the outer coil is connected with thepi e, 12, and the .inner coil with the pipe,`1 g' each of said'outer pipes has a valve, 14, to cont-rol thel flow of the fluid.- By this-arrangement of coiled pipes, outer pipesand valves,` hot Huid may be'circulated through. the coils and thereby the liquid .solution contained within the' boiler, 1, and"\having a Vdepth indicated by At a point just' v"the broken line, 23, may be kept at'the de- ;sired hot temperature.

-A perforated sheet-metal receptacle, 15,

'has an upright circular wall, 16, and a central upright'sleeve, vv17, whose interiorl or passage is square to correspond with the squarel shaped upper end, 9, of the revohible shaft; the bot-tom end of this sleeve, l?, is open in order to slip down over the end, 9, of the shaft, but the top end, at, 18, of the sleeve is closed to prevent liquid entering. the sleeve. It is desirable that the receptacle be constructed so that it may be placed on and lifted off from the shaft. The receptacle, 15,`at its top-rim has asurrounding outer hoop, 19, which reinforces and strengthens the circular wa'll. The receptacle is also provided with an inner hoop or flange, 20, which serves an important. purpose, namely, to check or prevent the centrifugal action from throwing;I the thin smalll cork disks outward and entirely away from rthe receptacle. In the drawing Fig. 1 shows von the receptacle two inc-lined lines, 21,

whose lower ends are both at the central sleeve, 17, and the higher ends at opposite sides are at the said inner hoop orflange,

20; these two inclined lines, 21, indicate the position or form which the 'small thin cork disks within the receptacle assume at their top surface; this position is dueto the centrifugal effect and the checking'effect of the inner hoop or flange, 20. The perforated receptacle having the centralsleeve, 17, and

square-shaped passage, may be filled or 4charged with thethin cork disks while the receptacle is jdismounted or detached from the shaft and the .charged receptacle `may then be set on the'end, 9, of the shaft.

After 4the treatmentof .the cork disks has been finished the receptacle, 15, may be lifted off.; (ir/detached from the shaft, and by upsetting the receptacle the treated vcork disks which are delicate may be removed from vthe receptacle and placed .on a table.

without injuring them, as would be the case if the thin disks were raked out either by a tool or by the fingers of the human hand. A pipe, l22, leads4 out from the bottom of Athe boiler and serves to draw ed the liquid It will be seen "from the drawing that the shape of the boiler, andthe receptacle, 15, within theboiler, and the relative size of solution that is' employed in treating the each offthese two is sich that the receptacle eeptaele for the liquid solution that treats the cork; the boiler wall is higher than the lreceptacle, 15, whereby the liquid solution `will not be thrown over the boiler walls;

and a space, 24, is around the receptacleand between the latterand the wall ofthe boiler; this surrounding space has suticient width to allow` a dipper-cup, not shown, to be moved up and down by the hand of the person attending the machine, so as to dip a cup full of the liquid solution and raise it up and pour same into the receptacle.

The operation of the machine may be brietiy. described as follows: TheL liquid solution is placed intofthe boiler or tank, l, to the height indicated by the horizontal broken line, 23; the thin cork disks that are to be treated are placed within the perforated receptacle, l5, say about two-thirds full, or the quantity may be as the judgment of the operator prefers. By turningthe valves, 14, that control the coiled pipes, hotwater or stea1n,as may b e preferred, can -be introduced into the coils, l1, and thereby the liquid solution in the tank may be heated to the desired temperature. 'lhevoperator should use a cup or dipper having along handle, and pass it down the space, 24, and dip the heated liquid solution from the bottom of the tank and po'urit on top of the cork disks contained -in the receptacle, l5; the -cork disks'shoul'd be thoroughly Wet or-saturated with the solution. wWhen these conditions have been obtained of teniperature and wetness .of the corks which i conditions are deemed favorable to produce 'the desired effect, revolution may be imparted to the shaft,5 and the receptacle containing the eorks, The centrifugal action thus'set up will throw off and eliminate 'the solution. When this treatment has been continued for a short period `of time, accordout injury to the latter.

ing to the judgment of the operator, the

'or turned over on a table o r other suitable f place thereby removing the said disks with- In some cases a further treatment of the corks with another hot solution is desirable; in such case the vfor bottle seals, comprisiiig'a stationary upright cylindric tank having a tube rising vertically from the bottom; a revoluble shaft standing vertically and extending up through said tube and the upper end of the shaft being square; coiled pipes within the tank for the circulation of heating Huid.; and a perforated vreceptacle having an up right central sleeve that slips onto the squared upper end of the revoluble shaft and revolves therewith and occupies the eenter of said tank and leaving a space around the receptacle of width to allow a dippei cup to he passed down'and up to dip up a liquid solution from the bottom of the tank and pour it into the rece tacle.

In testimon whereof afiix my signature iii presence o two witnesses.

WESLEY w. Mason.

Witnesses G. FERD. VOGT, CHARLES B. MANN, Jr. 

